


Against the Night

by buzzybeeforever



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, M/M, Not Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Compliant, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-18
Updated: 2018-04-27
Packaged: 2019-02-03 23:48:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 19,885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12758778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buzzybeeforever/pseuds/buzzybeeforever
Summary: "I still don't understand why, out of everyone in the world, it had to be you and me"Scorpius Malfoy and Albus Potter are the subjects of a prophecy destined to make or break the world as they know it, and only together can they make things right. There’s just one small problem – they detest each other. Can they move beyond their long-standing hatred, if the fate of the Wizarding World depends on it? Named after the song 'Against the Night' by Child Actor





	1. Prologue - Origins

**Author's Note:**

> so... for nanowrimo this year, i started writing yet another scrobus fic, though i've been planning it for months now, and i'm so excited to share it with you at last! i don't yet know how long it's going to be but i do know it's probably going to be a rather long and bumpy ride. this chapter is the prologue, and it is named after the song 'origins' by tennis. enjoy, and please feel free to leave kudos, or even leave a comment, i'm excited to hear your thoughts.

**Prologue – Origins**

"How much is required to set things right?"

**May 2** **nd** **, 2005**

The morning of the anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts dawned dark and dreary, almost as if to match the moods of those attending the memorial service. The Great Lake was a flat, dull sheet of grey, broken up only by the fat, freezing raindrops falling from the sky. The usual harsh beauty of the Scottish Highlands that usually surrounded the castle was masked by a thick layer of fog. If anybody was outside in that weather, it was only because they felt like they had to be.

The memorial service, originally intended to be a celebration of the lives lost and the sacrifices made, had quickly become a sombre affair for those who weren't quite ready to let go of the past. For some, returning to Hogwarts was simply too painful to bear, and nobody could blame them. Numbers had dwindled with each passing year, until on this miserable May morning only a handful of figures dressed in black stood huddled together, facing away from the castle as they watched the distant trees of the Forbidden Forest in silent contemplation.

A man and a woman stood a little apart from the crowd, and people eyed them warily, casting furtive glances their way, but the couple stood straight-faced and stoic. The man was Draco Malfoy, still quite an imposing figure, his pale hair and skin contrasting to his black, neatly tailored suit. His sharp features were as unreadable as ever, though there was something off about his posture, something that gave away his discomfort.

His wife's features were softer, almost serene, as she glanced at him and squeezed his hand, sensing his anxiety. Her other hand lay gently, almost unconsciously, across her stomach, as she had recently learned that she was pregnant. She thought of her husband beaming with pride when she had told him the news, and knew that nobody present would be able to picture him like that, the way he was now. She still remembered him from his Hogwarts days, all snide looks and sneers, but he wasn't that man anymore. The war had changed them all.

The vigil was short, and solemn. When it was over, the crowd scattered slightly, and conversations began to start up. The teachers nodded to their former pupils and headed back to the castle without another word. Draco and Astoria, as always, turned to follow them, more than ready to floo back to Malfoy Manor, now eerily empty, but beginning to fill with life and warmth again, thanks to Astoria's presence.

"Astoria! I was wondering if you'd be here." A voice full of forced brightness cut through the gloom of the day. Turning back, Astoria couldn't help but smile at the sight of Ginny Potter and the toddler hovering around her, grasping at the hem of her dress. Draco and Harry, as always, ignored each other pointedly, and Astoria couldn't help but roll her eyes.

Her friendship with Ginny was a fragile, precarious thing, but she was truly relieved to see the other woman standing there, an equally sardonic look on her face as her own husband stepped away to give his condolences to the others, his lips in a tight line. Astoria caught a glimpse of the faded lightning bolt scar on his forehead and couldn't help but wince at what it meant.

They had met one day at Madame Malkin's, quite by chance, and had begun talking as her young son threw a monstrous tantrum at her feet. She knew that Astoria had married Draco Malfoy and, refreshingly, she accepted it. She had talked to her as she would have to any other woman her age, and Astoria, more used to glares or whispered comments, had invited her and her son to go for tea with her at a little café on Diagon Alley.

Astoria was just about to ask Ginny how little James Potter was getting along, and was excited to inform the other woman of her own pregnancy, when a shriek rang through the air. Everyone turned to see a figure racing down towards them from the castle, long hair streaming along behind them. As the figure materialised fully from the fog, Astoria recognised Professor Trelawney, who still spent her days haunting the stuffy Divination tower and arguing with Firenze.

The older woman, her mass of hair now streaked liberally with grey, stopped in front of the two women, breathing hard. Ginny glanced at Astoria, frowning, as Professor Trelawney fell to her knees and began to speak in a haunting voice that certainly wasn't her own:

"As two worlds collide,

The need becomes dire,

For one forged in ice,

And the other, fire,

Together to make,

Apart to break,

Love is what is needed,

To right their mistake."

Trelawney stopped, frozen, her eyes completely vacant. Then, without warning, she shook her head and clambered back to her feet with some difficulty, grasping onto Ginny's shoulder to steady herself. She blinked once, twice, and suddenly she was herself again.

"Oh, hello dears," She said, her eyes wide through her spectacles. Glancing at Ginny, she said "And congratulations on your pregnancy, you and Harry must be so excited."

With that, she turned and headed back to the castle as if nothing were amiss. Soon she had been enveloped by the fog, leaving the two women dumbfounded.

"I'm not pregnant..." Ginny said, frowning. She shook her head.

"I am..." Astoria admitted, putting her hand across her stomach once more, "I only found out last week."

"Oh, congratulations!" Ginny smiled warmly, sounding genuinely happy, "Perhaps she just misread her tea leaves..."

"That must be it," Astoria agreed, feeling somewhat uneasy. Perhaps it was just morning sickness, but something about the woman's words had the ring of a legitimate prophecy to it, and there was something terrifying about that.

"Anyway, Harry and I had better be off, James is due a nap," She glanced back at her husband before noticing the discomfort on Astoria's face, "I'd ignore Trelawney if I were you, the only decent prophecy she ever made was years ago, and that was about my Harry."

"You're right, of course," Astoria nodded, pushing away all thoughts of the Divination professor's words and wondering where Draco had gotten to, "I hope to see you soon."

"You too," Ginny beamed, wrapping her in a quick one-armed hug, before rushing off to where Harry stood surrounded by fellow Hogwarts alumni, James dragging his feet behind her. Astoria watched them for a few seconds, her heart warmed by their small and perfect little family, glad that Harry Potter had seemed to find peace after the war, and hoping that the same would one day be possible for her own husband.

"Come on, let's head home," Astoria said once she had located her husband and had threaded her arm through his. She knew this day would be hard for him, and she intended to provide whatever comfort and support he needed. They headed back towards the castle to take the floo home, and away from Hogwarts for another year. She knew they would be back next year, and every year, until Draco felt he had made things right at last.

**December 22nd, 2005**

Astoria Malfoy closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, savouring the scents and sensations of the fantastically cold winter's day. She had been standing in the garden of Malfoy Manor for some time now, even though being on her feet for more than ten minutes at a time had been becoming increasingly uncomfortable over the past few months, as her belly had swelled and the life inside of her had continued to grow.

"Astoria, love, why don't you come inside? It's freezing out here." Draco appeared in the doorway, wrapped up in layers of jumpers and fleeces. As a wizard, he could of course warm himself up with magic, but he and Astoria had decided long ago not to become too reliant on magic, and on this freezing day, the house was frigid, and the garden outside was blisteringly cold.

"It's lovely out here," She said with a smile, opening her eyes and taking in the beautiful but desolate winter landscape that surrounded the grounds of the manor. Everything was white, from the snow that blanketed the fields and trees, to the pale winter sky, the sun watery and barely visible through the cloud.

"If you insist," He said, laughing softly as he put his arms around her. Astoria wished more people could see this Draco, not the stone-faced man who had appeared at his father's trial and hadn't shed a tear as his father was sent away to Azkaban, nor the reserved figure who stood apart from the crowd at the Battle of Hogwarts memorial each year. Those were perhaps the only times he had been seen in public since the battle itself, yet still there were those who would hurl abuse Astoria's way when she was visiting Diagon Alley.

Putting her hand on her stomach, she had to hope that the world her child inhabited would be a different, more accepting place. She knew there would be difficulties for them, and obstacles to overcome, but if things weren't going to be better, why should she be bringing a life into this world at all?

With that thought, a sharp pain shot through her abdomen. She gasped and leaned into Draco, struggling to keep upright. The cold was potent now, almost as biting as the pain itself, though the weather seemed secondary now. She sensed her husband tense next to her, his panic mirroring hers acutely.

She had known the baby was due – the midwives she had seen at the Muggle hospital she and Draco had been to had told her so – but nothing could have prepared her for this. Indeed, they were going to have the baby at a Muggle hospital, all being well. She and Draco had been actively trying to spend more time in the Muggle world, and while it had been strange and bewildering at first, she couldn't help but appreciate their ingenuity, and knew that she was challenging her long-held prejudices at the same time.

"Merlin's beard," Draco muttered, steering his wife inside and onto a chaise longue, where it was marginally warmer. Still early in the day, the fireplace hadn't yet been stoked, and Astoria wasn't sure whether she was shivering, or if it was just the effect of her next contraction.

With trembling fingers, Draco phoned for an ambulance, raising his voice just to be certain the operator could hear him. By the time Draco had managed to convey the location of Malfoy Manor, nestled in amongst fields and villages so small as to be all but insignificant, Astoria's contractions were coming closer and closer together, and she was struggling to keep calm against the pain and the worry.

Draco paced the room in between holding Astoria's hand, reassuring her in his gentlest voice, and frantically phoning the ambulance service to make sure the ambulance was on its way. Astoria wasn't sure the baby could wait much longer, but thankfully she and Draco had made sure to read up on what to do in such a situation, and they prepared as best they could.

In fact, by the time the paramedics arrived, they were almost too late. She was already pushing, and within moments of their arrival she had her son in her arms, so tiny and warm and screaming his little lungs out. She sobbed with relief as she held him, unaware of everything else but her perfect, beautiful child.

"Hello, little one," She whispered as her son gripped onto her finger with one unbelievably strong and tiny fist. The paramedics had already left, having ascertained that both mother and child were in perfect health. In the hearth, a fire was beginning to blaze merrily, and Astoria was beginning to feel drowsy and warm. There was just the three of them, their small and lovely family.

"Our little Scorpius Hyperion" Draco added, staring at his son with a mix of awe and wonder. Astoria had relented when her husband insisted he name his son in the family tradition, knowing how much it meant to him. While the world was being forged anew, their son would be a small link to the past, a way of ensuring their legacy would never be forgotten, for all its former ugliness.

And so Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy was born, forged in ice, a connection to which would never be forgotten.

* * *

Ginny Potter sat snuggled up on the sofa, a blanket draped over her and the sleeping form of her son. She smiled lovingly down at him, then at the rounded shape of her stomach. Trelawney had been right, she mused, and that thought worried her almost half to death, because that meant that perhaps those strange words she had spoken in that disconnected voice, the words Ginny had been unable to get out of her mind, were correct, and something was rising all over again.

"Come on, James, time for bed," Harry appeared at the door, looking fondly at his wife and child as always. James sat up, groggily, his face splitting into a wide grin as he saw his father. Harry walked over to the sofa, sweeping his son up in his arms.

With the snow falling outside, and the fireplace blazing with warmth and light, Ginny couldn't help but think that her life truly was picture perfect. After the horrors of the war, and the things it had done to them all, it was wonderful to see her life falling perfectly into place. Both she and her husband had their dream jobs, and their perfect little family would soon be growing once again. They had a lovely little home in Godric's Hollow, tucked away in the small village. Outside, church bells began to ring, and she was sure she could hear the harmonious voices of carol singers in the darkness.

"I think I might just stay here," Ginny said, yawning widely. She had been dozing on and off for the past few hours, a book lying discarded just in front of the fireplace.

"Remember to turn the fire down," Harry reminded her, kissing her gently on the top of her head as James fidgeted in his arms. She nodded, already feeling herself begin to nod off once again. She sensed Harry leaving the room, and heard the door close with a soft thud, and gladly she drifted off completely.

Ginny was jolted awake an indeterminable amount of time later by an intense heat all down one side of her body. She grumbled at the sensation, and at the bright lights that flared in front of her vision. As the heat began to grow distinctly uncomfortable, she opened her eyes, and immediately bit back a scream.

The room was on fire.

Panic washed through her like a wave, drowning out all rational thought and logic. She jumped to her feet, searching swiftly through her blankets for her wand, but it was nowhere to be found.

The fire was growing, spreading, edging across the carpet at a speed that Ginny could hardly believed. She stepped back, a scream rising in her throat even as the smoke began to choke her. Suddenly, pain shot through her lower abdomen, and she knew immediately that she was going into early labour.

"No, no, no," She moaned, unable to move, unable to think, the fire encompassing all thought and vision. The fire brought back flashes of memory from another time, of a castle destroyed and of friends injured and dying, and panic surged through her once more, "not again, this can't be happening again."

"Aguamenti!" A strong, familiar voice called out. In no time at all, the fire began to die down, its roaring replaced by the sizzling of steam as water flowed from her husband's wand. She fell to her knees in relief even as the overwhelming pain of another contraction hit her with full force. As the fire at last faded, and the room became dim and dark, Harry was there, his arms wrapped around her, whispering soothing words in her ear.

"I'm sorry," She sobbed, sagging against him, "I should have known what to do, I should have –"

She groaned as her body was wracked by another contraction, clutching at her stomach. They were too close together, and it was too soon. Guilt threatened to consume her; this was all her fault, if she had just put out the fire, if she hadn't panicked, if her wand had been at hand –

"It's okay, Ginny," Harry reassured her, "none of this is your fault."

He knew her too well, and Ginny found at that moment that she didn't mind. He knew just the right thing to say.

"Come on, let's get you someplace safe, someplace quiet." Harry pulled her gently to her feet, "James is fine, he's still fast asleep, miraculously."

They headed out of the room, and Harry guided her to their bedroom, where she collapsed onto the bed, panting with the very effort of it and resisting that instinctive urge to  _push_ , aware that it was too soon, it was far too soon. But no – this was happening, and it was happening now. She had done it before, and she could do it again, even under such terrible and extraordinary circumstances.

Thankfully, she and Harry had been to several classes at St. Mungo's, and they knew what to do. Harry held her hand and helped to ease the pain with an extremely useful spell, and she began to push. James had been born at home, and it was looking like her next child would be too, without the help of a Mediwitch.

The labour was swift, no doubt helped by the extreme panic that had begun it in the first place, and whilst it was of course a struggle, she soon held her newborn son tightly in her arms, smiling up at her husband as he wiped a tear from his cheek. He was perfect, tiny as he was, with a shock of thick, dark hair already. She and Harry had discussed names, and she knew they had chosen the perfect one.

"Albus Severus," She whispered, "it's lovely to meet you, even if you were a little impatient."

Beside her, Harry laughed, and stroked his newest son's soft, downey cheek. James appeared in the doorway, blinking, and hurried over to meet his new sibling. It was all okay.

And so, Albus Severus Potter was born, forged in fire, which in time would come to shape his life.


	2. New Beginnings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welcome back to against the night! today's chapter is named after the song 'new beginnings' by pascal pinon. i really hope you enjoy it, and please feel free to share your thoughts in comments!

**Chapter 1: New Beginnings**

"The things I may not understand are slightly getting out of hand"

The very last person Scorpius Malfoy expected to see on his doorstep on his seventeenth birthday was Albus Potter.

But there he was, the smug git, looking as horrified to see Scorpius as Scorpius was to see him. Standing behind him was Harry Potter, the saviour of the Wizarding World, but even the sight of the famous Gryffindor hero was less surprising than that of his eldest son, with whom he had a long-standing hatred.

Then Ginny Potter stepped into view, and Scorpius couldn't help but breathe out a sigh of relief. His mother had been good friends with the Holyhead Harpies captain for almost as long as Scorpius could remember, and she was a familiar fixture at Malfoy Manor, which rather fortunately could not be said for the two men standing beside her who wore matching expressions of wariness and disgust.

"Mrs Potter!" He exclaimed, "I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting you here..."

"No worries, Scorpius, dear," She said with a smile, "I'm surprised your parents didn't let you know, but from what Astoria's been telling me it sounds as if you're all awfully busy. And call me Ginny, you've certainly known me long enough.

"Of course, Ginny..." He stumbled uncomfortably over the name, "Um. Why don't you come in, it's freezing out there."

"That would be lovely," Ginny said warmly, stepping outside. When her husband and youngest son remained outside, lingering on the doorstep, she gave them a sharp look, and they stepped hurriedly inside, shucking off their coats. Scorpius elected to just ignore Albus' presence entirely, letting Ginny take care of their outerwear as he went to find his parents.

Once upon a time, he and Albus had known each other, could maybe even have become friends, but all of that had changed when they had started at Hogwarts. Albus had, to everyone's surprise, been sorted into Slytherin, and had quickly adjusted to life there. Scorpius hadn't been particularly surprised; he had eavesdropped on many of Ginny and his mother's conversations, and Albus' more Slytherin personality traits had been oft discussed. Then there had been the incident on the Hogwarts Express, but Scorpius preferred not to think of that.

Scorpius, much to the apparent relief of his parents, had been sorted into Ravenclaw, and while he had felt a little awkward and out of place at first, he had quickly come to adore his House. Once people could see past the family name and realised that he was just as much of a massive nerd as the rest of them, he had fitted right in and had never looked back.

"Mum," He shouted up one of the sets of stairs at the back of the house, knowing she was likely to be in her office up there, "the Potters are here..."

She appeared immediately at the top of the stairs, looking flustered, "Oh, of course! Is that the time? Tell Ginny I'll be right down, would you? And show them into the lounge. I'll just go and remind your father they're here, he's in his workshop again..."

Scorpius nodded and went to guide the Potter family into the sitting room. He couldn't stop his eyes from drifting towards Harry Potter, and the scar on his forehead that his dark, scruffy hair didn't quite cover. The man seemed uneasy, which startled Scorpius just a little, and he kept glancing back, as if expecting to see something lurking in the shadows. Scorpius knew a little about the war from what his parents had told him, and he knew the role Malfoy Manor had played in it all, but many years had passed, and his parents had refurbished the large country estate entirely.

He was careful to avoid the gaze of Albus Potter, who sulked sullenly behind his parents, quite obviously desperate to be anywhere else. Scorpius was certain that Albus wouldn't dare pull his usual tricks with his parents present, but he still felt a little wary. Albus had quite a reputation throughout the school, and Scorpius couldn't help but wonder how much his parents were aware of it. There were the articles in the Daily Prophet, of course, but they barely touched the surface of what went on at Hogwarts.

Scorpius wondered absently where Lily was; through Rose, a fellow Ravenclaw and one of his favourite people in the entire world, he had struck up something of a friendship with the Fourth Year Hufflepuff, who was thankfully the polar opposite of her older brother. James Potter was famously training to be a cursebreaker with Gringotts in Egypt, so his lack of appearance could easily be explained.

His train of thought was cut short as they reached the sitting room, bedecked in all of its Christmas glory. Scorpius couldn't help but smile at the familiar sight of the tree, which took up an entire corner of the room, nor the way the windows had already frosted up, despite it being only mid-afternoon. Feeling horrendously awkward, Scorpius directed the Potter family to one of the various large couches that made up the centre of the large room. It didn't escape his notice that Albus raised an eyebrow at the sight of their Muggle television set, but there were a lot of things that people didn't know about the Malfoys.

"Oh, I completely forgot to mention," Ginny gushed from the sofa, the only one of the three who didn't look hopelessly out of place, "I hope you're having a good birthday!"

"I am, thank you," He said warmly, thinking back to the delicious brunch he had had with his family, and the spectacular watch they had given him, a typical present for a witch or wizard who was coming of age. With Christmas so close by, it was the only present he had received, but that didn't bother him nearly so much as it had when he was little.

"I'm so glad to hear it," She practically beamed, "we've been having a fantastic day celebrating Albus' birthday, I just can't believe both you boys are of age now, these past seventeen years seem to have flown by. This is partly why we're here, though I'd best to wait until your parents are here so we can explain fully."

"Happy birthday, Albus," Scorpius said quietly, and at a nudge from his mother, the other boy grumbled a half-hearted response. Ginny either wasn't aware of the animosity between the two boys, or she chose to ignore it. Scorpius excused himself to go and help his parents make tea, as he could hear them bustling about in the kitchen.

"Mum, why  _are_  the Potters here?" He asked as he took several mugs down from the cupboard, placing them on a tray before hunting for the sugar.

His mother sighed audibly from across the surprisingly small kitchen, which had been used exclusively by House Elves for many years until his father had dismissed them after the war, "You'll see, Scorpius. They're here for a reason, and it's an important one. I can't state that enough."

"I never thought this day would come," His father stood by the kettle, tapping his foot impatiently. His neatly tailored shirt had several scorch marks on the sleeves, no doubt due to a hard day's work in his potions workshop. Scorpius was even more confused than he had previously been, so he stayed silent and helped his parents finish off the tea, carrying the tray into the sitting room for them.

There was silence for a few moments as everyone got their drinks. Albus refused, sitting stiffly on the sofa with his arms crossed as everyone around him was busy adding sugar or milk to their teas. Scorpius watched him as he settled into his usual armchair, wondering just how exhausting it must be to hate almost everything and everyone as Albus seemed to. The other boy caught him looking and scowled. Scorpius dropped his gaze and focused on his tea, wishing the Potter family would just hurry up and leave already.

"Right," Astoria began, clearing her throat, "since we're all here… Scorpius, Albus, now that you are both of age, there is something you need to know."

Ginny nodded, speaking solemnly, "Before you boys were born, we were at Hogwarts for the annual memorial service… You know which service I'm talking about, right?"

They both nodded. Albus looked puzzled, and the expression didn't suit him at all. The scowl had seemed far more at home in the lines of his face.

"I had just discovered I was pregnant," Astoria said, "which I didn't realise was important at the time. Ginny and I were chatting after the service, when Professor Trelawney ran up to us, and she spoke to us in this strange, inhuman voice. The words made no sense at the time..."

Scorpius frowned; he vaguely remembered seeing the dotty old Divination professor around the castle and in the Great Hall, though she had retired a few years ago. She had often sauntered around the castle muttering to herself, and the younger years had always shied away from her due to her tendency to grab a student by the shoulder and read their fortune for them.

"We think it was a prophecy," Ginny said plainly, grasping onto her husband's hand tightly. Albus had affected an expression of disinterest, but he was leaning forward slightly, hanging on to every word. Scorpius found himself doing the same, and took a large swig of tea to give him time to try and gather his thoughts.

"Again, we had thought it was all her usual nonsense," Astoria's brows were furrowed, "but then certain words or phrases from the prophecy started to make sense to us. It was especially strange when she congratulated Ginny on her pregnancy, when she wasn't yet aware that she was carrying a child."

"And then..." Ginny glanced back at her son, "Albus, I'm sure you're aware of the circumstances surrounding your birth."

He shrugged vaguely, his hair flopping over his face, "There was a fire. I wasn't meant to be born so early."

"One of the lines of the prophecy speaks about somebody forged in fire..." Astoria said thoughtfully. Albus sat up suddenly, eyes wide, looking like his whole world had just unravelled around him, "but it also speaks about somebody forged in ice… And I don't think I could have been much colder when I had you, Scorpius. Draco always says my lips were blue when you were born, that's how cold it was that day..."

Scorpius couldn't quite comprehend what he was hearing. His parents had told him stories about his birth, about the notoriously cold day, one of the coldest on record, but he had never really listened, not seriously.

"So…" Scorpius said, trying to figure it all out in his head, "You think that Albus and I, we're… You think the prophecy's about us?"

Ginny nodded, looking stricken. Next to her, Albus had gone pale, "We always suspected so, though we couldn't be sure. We've asked Trelawney since, but she doesn't remember that day at all. And you've seen all of those reports in the Daily Prophet, I'm sure, about magic being wielded in very public Muggle spaces, like that one in Trafalgar Square last week..."

"Work's been a bloody nightmare lately," Harry spoke up at last, "we had to Obliviate so many people..."

Scorpius remembered reading about the incident, and it hadn't been the first. They were mostly harmless, as far as he could tell; witches or wizards levitating when they shouldn't have been, or disappearing only to reappear seconds later, enough that people had noticed, and had started questioning it.

"By the time we got to the scene, the perpetrators had cleared off," Harry continued, "the Muggles had taken plenty of photos and selfies, of course, but none of them were ever clear enough..."

"What does all of this have to do with us?" Scorpius couldn't help but wonder aloud.

"The first line of the prophecy speaks of two worlds colliding," Astoria said, "we wonder if this is just the beginning, if someone might be planning to destroy the Statute of Secrecy, if they might want to reveal the Wizarding World to the Muggles."

It all sounded ridiculous, but somehow plausible. There had been much debate over the past twenty years, both scholarly and otherwise, of the benefits of exposing Muggles to the Wizarding World. Those in favour argued that knowledge and culture could be shared, and that it could be mutually beneficial. Others argued that the Muggles would regard witches and wizards with suspicion, and something like the witch hunts of the past would take place once again.

But what was Scorpius' place in all of this? And Albus'? The very thought of it was overwhelming, and he shivered despite the fire blazing in the hearth. The only other person he knew that had been the centre of a prophecy was Harry Potter, and he was now deemed the saviour of the Wizarding World. Scorpius wasn't sure he was ready for a responsibility as big as that hanging over him, and he hoped fervently that the adults were wrong, that they had misunderstood something, but it all made a strange kind of sense.

"This is bullshit!" Albus protested, getting to his feet.

"Language!" Harry admonished. It was strange to see him as he was now; a father, a regular man. Ginny simply put her head in her hands, as if this were a regular occurrence.

"Whatever, this is… This is ridiculous," Albus muttered, storming out of the room, "you've obviously misinterpreted the prophecy or something, because I'm having nothing to do with this."

Albus yanked open the front door, then slammed it shut behind him, blowing a gust of frigid air into the house and making Scorpius shiver. The room fell eerily silent, as if no one dared to speak. Scorpius looked at his parents, who both looked as uneasy as he felt.

"What now?" Scorpius asked, shattering the silence.

"I guess… We wait," Draco said, speaking for the first time since they had been in the kitchen, "we see if any more pieces of the puzzle begin to fit together."

"You're right," Harry agreed, and Scorpius almost couldn't quite believe that he was witnessing Harry Potter and his father being civil with each other, let alone getting along. He had heard of their notorious hatred of each other during their school years, could hardly have avoided the comparisons that were made between him and Albus, and if it took more than twenty years for them to reach this point, what chance did he stand with Albus?

"Is… Is Albus going to be alright out there?" Astoria asked, ever the concerned mother, even when the child in question wasn't hers, "it's such a cold day."

Ginny nodded, "He'll be fine. He just needs some time to take it all in."

"Scorpius, why don't you and talk to him?" Draco said pointedly, and Scorpius repressed a sigh, well aware that he was being dismissed so that the adults could talk freely about them, "You might be able to get through to him, at least make him see the seriousness of the situation."

Scorpius unfurled himself reluctantly from the armchair and got to his feet, stretching out his stiff muscles before going to the front door as slowly as was physically possible. He considered just opening and closing the front door only to sneak upstairs to his room, but something made his feet head in that direction, made him step outside into the freezing afternoon. Perhaps it was the knowledge that he and Albus were supposedly going to be a part of something bigger than themselves, together, and if that were the case, things would have to change between them.

"Fuck off," Albus said the moment the door closed behind Scorpius. The Slytherin was sitting on the wall of the front garden, lighting a cigarette with his wand and taking a deep drag on it, breathing billowing smoke out in Scorpius' direction.

"As charming as ever," Scorpius noted, his nose wrinkling at the smell. Albus didn't seem the least bit bothered by the cold, so Scorpius tried to act to act as nonchalant as possible, leaning casually against the front door and crossing his arms as a way to keep his hands warm.

Albus didn't respond, simply stared up at the sky and continued to smoke. There was no difference there, then; at Hogwarts, the two boys occupied pretty much opposite ends of the social spectrum, and that was just how things had always been. Scorpius didn't expect things to change just because they were potentially the subjects of a life-altering prophecy.

"Are you just going to stand there, weirdo?" Albus asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, I was actually sent here to talk to you," Scorpius replied with what he hoped was a casual shrug, his teeth chattering, "but you're clearly too busy being a pretentious asshole, so I don't think I'll bother. Maybe I should just go back inside and tell your parents what you're up to."

"I wouldn't bother," Albus said, throwing the cigarette butt into the garden without a glance, "they already know. And they hate it, which is why I do it, of course."

Scorpius scoffed, "Doesn't it ever get tiring? Being such a git?"

"Wouldn't know," Albus responded, plastering a totally unconvincing grin on his face, "shouldn't you be celebrating your birthday at laser tag with all of your nerdy little friends or something?"

"You do realise that your cousin is my best friend, right?" Scorpius asked him, frowning. He wasn't surprised, though, not really. Rose was about as much of a fan of Albus as Scorpius was, and with good reason; the two had been good friends throughout their childhoods, but once they had started at Hogwarts, that had all changed.

"Yeah, and she has a shit taste in friends," Albus jumped effortlessly down from the wall, "now fuck off already, would you? I'm not talking to my parents about that bullshit prophecy, and I'm certainly not talking to you."

"Why?" Scorpius demanded, losing all pretence at nonchalance and scowling at Albus, "Why won't you even entertain the possibility of the prophecy being true, and what that means? You could really be a part of something that changes the world as we know it. Doesn't that excite you, even a little bit?"

"No," Albus said, looking in the opposite direction, towards the open fields and nothingness that surrounded Malfoy Manor, "and could you just get it into your thick head, Malfoy, that I don't want to fucking talk to you? Just go back inside, to your sad, pathetic little life. You've probably got homework to do, or something."

Deciding not to rise to the bait, Scorpius yanked the front door open and swept inside, trying to calm the anger seething within him. He stood in the hallway, trying to focus on breathing deeply, and failing miserably. Something within Scorpius longed to punch something, preferably Albus Potter, for all of his smugness and for all of the ways the other boy always managed to get to him, no matter how much he tried not to let it bother him.

Scorpius thought back to that first train ride on the Hogwarts Express, how he had been so excited to finally be going to the famous Wizarding school that his parents had told him so much about. He had been so nervous, and sensing his parents' apprehension had only made his own worse. It was understandable, really; the Malfoy family were still seen as untrustworthy, disreputable, and Scorpius knew he would face difficulties, but he was determined not to let it get to him, and to prove the others wrong.

That had all gotten off to a terrible start, however, when the first person he had met on the Hogwarts Express had been Albus Potter. Scorpius remembered the joy at finding an almost empty compartment, the thrill of recognising the son of one of his mother's friends. He had thought he was about to make his first friend; oh, how wrong he had been.

"Hi, you're Albus Potter, right?" He had burst into the compartment, all nervous enthusiasm, the words bubbling out of him before he could stop himself. Scorpius could picture Albus Potter at that moment even now; the scowl on his face as he had been interrupted from the First Year textbook he had been engrossed in, the way his eyes, green and bright like emeralds, had narrowed as they had taken in Scorpius' blonde hair and pointed features, the way he had stuck up his nose like a bad smell had just entered the room.

"And you must be Scorpius Malfoy," Albus said haughtily, when he deigned to speak at last, "I've heard all about you and your family. I'm amazed they even let you in."

"What do you mean?" Scorpius, in all his innocence and desperation to make a friend, had asked. He knew a little about the role his father had played in the war; he understood that his father had been on the wrong side, but he also understood that when it had mattered, his father had made the right choices, and he was still trying to make up for what he had done. Scorpius was aware that some people might not see things the way he did, but he had thought they could be easily convinced.

"Well, I mean, we all know who your father is, and who your grandfather is," Albus had said, leaning back in his seat and watching Scorpius carefully, "He might tell you that he's changed, but I don't believe it. And I don't believe for a second that you'll be any better. You'll be a coward and a liar and as overprivileged as your own father was."

"Shut up!" Scorpius had shouted. He had considered reaching into his pocket for his wand, but that would have just proved the other boy right.

Albus had just shrugged, as if he were unbothered by this whole ordeal, "It's not my fault you can't handle the truth. And don't try to befriend me, Malfoy – my father is the Saviour of the Wizarding World, and what is yours? He's nothing, and you're nothing."

"Why do you hate me so much?" Scorpius had asked, knowing it was pointless but still willing to give it one last try, "I've done nothing to you. You don't even know me!"

"I know your type," Albus had said, as if that explained it all, "Potters and Malfoys, we've hated each other for centuries, according to my dad. What makes you think you can change that? Why even bother trying? You'll just be wasting your time. And mine."

Scorpius had stood there, dumbfounded, as Albus had returned to his book, whispering the spells aloud as if Scorpius didn't even exist. He had expected some degree of animosity, but this seemed like too much. He had only wanted to make a friend, and instead he had apparently made himself an enemy.

"Are you still lurking?" Albus had sighed, stowing the book in his trunk and getting to his feet, coming face to face with Scorpius. The other boy was slightly shorter, and Scorpius remembered the strange sense of smugness he had felt at that, "Can't you just get it into your thick head that I don't want to be your friend? Am I going to have to hex you to get you to go away?"

"Oh, please," Scorpius had retorted in some futile attempt to gain the upper hand in the conversation, "I doubt you even know any."

"Want to test that theory out?" Albus had jumped to his feet, waving his wand threateningly in Scorpius' face as he had backed away, his back hitting the door of the train compartment. Scorpius was sure that Albus wouldn't dare to get himself in trouble so early on in the year, but he was slowly realising that he couldn't assume anything about Albus Potter.

At last, Scorpius had recovered his wits and hurried out of the compartment, leaving Albus alone. He had sauntered down the corridor, trailing his hefty trunk along behind him, until he had slipped into a reasonably empty compartment whose inhabitants had ignored him. That train journey had stuck in his memory, even after all of these years, and his relationship with Albus certainly hadn't improved since that day.

That evening, the silence in the Great Hall had been deafening as Scorpius had been sorted into Ravenclaw, which even he hadn't been expecting, but it was where the Sorting Hat said he belonged, above and beyond all familial ties, and he remained grateful to this day. Rose Granger-Weasley had been seated next to him at the Ravenclaw table, practically buzzing with excitement.

"Scorpius Malfoy," She had whispered, beaming widely, "oh, I was so looking forward to seeing you, I've heard all about you from my parents, though they have rather different opinions – I'm inclined to believe my mother, if I'm honest with you – and to think we're both in Ravenclaw! No one my age in my family loves learning quite as much as I do, so to be in Ravenclaw is just wonderful."

He had barely been able to keep up with her furious whispering. She had kept up a running commentary of the Sorting ceremony in his ear, pointing out the children of her parents' friends and clapping loudly and enthusiastically with every new Ravenclaw. When Albus' name was called, she had fallen silent at last, watching him with wide eyes.

Albus hadn't seemed the least bit bothered by the hundreds of pairs of eyes all watching him intently. The Sorting Hat had remained on his head for several minutes as the entire room had watched on with bated breath.

"I knew it!" Rose had hissed as the hat had loudly declared her cousin a Slytherin and he had slouched over to join his new housemates. As with Scorpius, the Great Hall had remained mostly silent, save for the cheers of his own House, "Everyone was convinced he'd be in Gryffindor like James is, but I never believed that."

"Scorpius!" He was shaken from his reverie by his mother calling his name. He shook his head at all of the bygones and could-have-beens and headed into the sitting room, where Harry and Ginny Potter were getting to their feet, "The Potters are off now, go and get their coats for them."

He acquiesced, grabbing Albus' coat which was still on the hook and passing it to Ginny, who sighed and took it from him. Harry Potter and Scorpius' father were once again on different sides of the room, pretending the other didn't exist.

"You didn't manage to convince him, then?" Ginny asked with a sad smile as she pulled her coat on. Harry was close behind her, and Scorpius tried not to stare at the faded scar on his forehead.

"No..." Scorpius frowned, "I really don't think I'm the right person for that."

Ginny put her hand consolingly on Scorpius' shoulder, "Albus can be stubborn, but give it time. If what we fear does turn out to be true, then when the time comes, when it's really important, he will understand, I just know it. But don't let it worry you for now, enjoy your Christmas. I know my son, and I know that he's just scared, and this is his way of showing it."

"Thank you, Mrs – Uh, Ginny," He opened the front door, to where Albus was waiting outside, looking utterly miserable, "maybe when we go back to Hogwarts I'll be able to talk to him."

Scorpius himself wasn't convinced by this, but Ginny turned to Astoria, and the pair shared a look, a look that seemed to say everything would be alright. He was just glad that somebody had a little faith in his abilities to get through to Albus, which thus far had proved pretty much nonexistent.

"We'll see each other again soon, I'm sure," Ginny said warmly, hugging him briefly, "and Astoria, thank you so much for tea, it was wonderful as always. Do let me know when you next want to meet at Diagon Alley, I'm away in Estonia after New Year, but I'll be sure to send you a letter."

"Merry Christmas," Harry Potter said gruffly, nodding once in Draco and Astoria's direction as he stepped outside, silently handing Albus his coat. They looked almost identical, with matching mops of unruly black hair and emerald green eyes. If it weren't for the glasses and the scar, they could have passed for twins. Scorpius wondered how Albus managed to be so different to his father in so many ways, yet look so similar. The longer he looked, however, the more differences he noticed; Albus was already a little taller than his father, though he tended to slouch, and Albus had his mother's freckles. Scorpius realised he was staring and blushed, retreating back into the house.

"Merry Christmas!" Astoria responded, waving to the family as they Apparated home, Albus clutching unwillingly onto his mother's arm. Scorpius breathed out a sigh of relief, simply glad that Albus was no longer around.

Their parents seemed to think this was easy; that they could just reverse six years of animosity and dislike. Scorpius would be eternally grateful if the prophecy turned out not to concern him if only because it would spare him the horror of ever having to work alongside Albus Potter. However, there was a nagging feeling in his gut that his parents were right, and something truly was starting again.

"Mum..." He said in a quiet voice, once she had shut the front door and Scorpius began to feel warm again, "Do you really think that this prophecy's going to change everything?"

She looked tired as she pulled her son onto the sofa beside her, "Scorpius, the truth is that right now we just don't know. We just have to keep an eye on things, see how that situation with the witches or wizards performing blatant magic in front of Muggles continues… I know you're going back to Hogwarts soon, but your father and I will keep you updated, and I'm sure you'll read about it in the Daily Prophet"

"I'm just," Scorpius tried not to wince at the uncertainty creeping into his voice, "I'm just scared, about what all of this means. And I know I'm just being childish, but – I don't want to be friends with Albus Potter. I don't see how it can be all that important."

"Like I said, darling, we just don't know. It may be that as time goes by, things start to become clearer," She stroked his hair comfortingly as he resisted the urge to break down in tears, "I know you must be terrified, but you know you're not alone. You have us, and you have all your wonderful friends at Hogwarts. Even if you can't be friends with Albus, you'll never be alone, I promise."

"Thank you," Scorpius said, with all the sincerity in the world. His mother was right, of course; it was all scary and new and overwhelming, but he wasn't alone.

"Now, it  _is_  still your birthday," Astoria pointed out, "so let's think of more cheerful things. After all, the day isn't over yet, and I refuse to let you spend your seventeenth birthday worrying about things that may or may not come true."

"You're right," Scorpius said, straightening up and glancing one more at the lovely new watch gleaming on his wrist. He and his parents were yet to have their typical birthday dinner, and he had a pile of presents from his friends that were lying unopened on his bed, as he had been distracted by more pressing matters.

For the rest of his birthday, he tried his hardest to forget about Albus Potter and the prophecy, but that nagging feeling lingered in his gut, telling him that this wasn't over yet; indeed, it had only really just begun.


	3. Backwards

**Chapter 2: Backwards**

"Did you always have it all? Is that not enough?"

The very first thing Scorpius did upon boarding the Hogwarts Express was finding Rose, pulling her into the first empty compartment they could find, and telling her all about the prophecy. He knew with the utmost certainty that he could trust Rose with this, and above all that he could trust her not to blab about it to all of their friends.

"You and  _Albus_? Really?" Rose had listened to Scorpius silently and patiently, though he could tell she had been bursting with questions.

"That's the most pressing issue with all of this?" Scorpius raised an eyebrow at Rose, who only leaned forward more intently, thousands of questions no doubt lingering on the very tip of her tongue, "But yeah… For the sake of my own sanity, I'm hoping that our parents are wrong."

"This is all just so bizarre," She said, frowning, "I mean, we need to read this prophecy, and analyse it. Before we do anything, we need to understand it and work out if you really do fit into it. Merlin's beard, I wish I hadn't packed my notebook away in my trunk, I was certain I'd need it for something on this journey."

Scorpius grinned at Rose, "I'll ask my parents to tell me the whole prophecy. At the time I was just so… Overwhelmed by it all, I didn't even think about the fact that I hadn't heard the whole thing."

"It's a good thing you have me, then," Rose preened, giggling. Scorpius settled back into his seat, finally able to relax for the first time since his birthday. His parents had been insistent that they not ruin the holidays by going on about the prophecy, so Scorpius had been unable to discuss it with anybody. Rose was his best friend, and with good reason; she simply understood him, and he wasn't sure what he would do without her.

"I can't imagine it any other way," Scorpius responded, "now tell me, how was your Christmas? Mine was just me and my parents, as always."

"Oh, don't even get me started," Rose said, already preparing to launch into a long and complicated story, "Victoire's pregnant again, you'd think three children would be enough, but apparently not, and we can hardly fit everyone in at the Burrow as it is. Christmas dinner was just absolute chaos, I tried to help grandma in the kitchen but I just got in the way, and then Roxanne dropped the turkey, I thought grandma was actually going to burst..."

Scorpius could have listened to Rose talk about the Weasley family all day long; except for a certain Slytherin, he was on friendly terms with most of the younger generation, though he had yet to be invited to one of their famous family dinners, which he assumed was for the best. He adored his own little family of three, but there was some part of him that longed for what Rose had, with all of the chaos and craziness that came with it.

Some time later, once Rose and Scorpius had finished discussing the Christmas holidays and were eagerly talking about one of their Potions essays, the door to their compartment burst opened, and the rest of their little group of friends all piled in.

"Here you guys are!" Avery enthused, bundling Scorpius up in a tight hug that could have crushed his ribcage. Their hair turned a warm and happy shade of blonde, far removed from the usual lilac hair that they preferred. Avery was a metamorphagus, and they weren't afraid to let everybody know it.

"We've been looking everywhere!" Alice whined, flopping down next to Rose with a heavy sigh. The daughter of Neville Longbottom, she was always the first to complain, though it was usually with good reason, "I swear, if the trolley doesn't come past, I'm going to perish."

"I'm sure you'll manage," Radin said, emphatically rolling his eyes, "you only just had breakfast, anyway."

"Oh come on, Radin, you know what she's like," Delilah said, taking the seat next to Scorpius once Avery had at last released him. She was the captain of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, and another of the reasons that Scorpius had come to befriend Lily Potter lately.

With all of his best friends around him, Scorpius at last felt like he was at home. His group of friends was small, and they were all generally considered outcasts, but he wouldn't have been complete without him. The group was made up of Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs, and one Gryffindor, which was considered unusual as friendships usually stayed within their respective Houses, but apart from Delilah and Radin's Quidditch rivalry, not much thought was given to that fact.

"I do indeed," Radin said with a smile, leaning over to kiss Alice on the cheek. The two had been going out for over a year now, and while Scorpius was certain that no one outside of their friendship group even knew they were dating, they made quite an adorable couple.

"You'll go get a pumpkin pasty for me, then?" Alice asked, blinking innocently up at him, "Since you love me so much?"

Radin glowered at her, but within seconds he had recovered a few coins from his pocket and had wandered off to see if he could find the trolley anywhere. Avery had their feet up across Rose's lap, and looked ready to fall fast asleep. Scorpius liked the way that their hair returned to its natural shade of brown as they nodded off, something which happened frequently in lessons and which the teachers luckily hadn't seemed to catch onto yet.

"Did you guys complete that Potions assignment yet?" Delilah asked, rolling her eyes in Avery's direction.

"Of course," Rose said simply. They had spent the train ride home getting started on it, and Scorpius didn't doubt that she had continued working on it as soon as she had gotten home. Scorpius had at least decided to wait until Christmas was out of the way until he really began studying, though he was aware that this tendency was very un-Ravenclaw of him.

"Me too," She enthused, absently plaiting a strand of hair with her fingers, "I'm actually super proud of it."

"Oh, please," Alice said, "we all know you only did it to impress Professor Zabini."

Delilah blushed very obviously, red showing up even against her dark skin, "I did not!"

"Come on," Rose laughed, nudging her, "he's the best looking teacher by far, right?"

"I don't know," Avery muttered, opening one eye, their hair turning gradually back to its usual shade of lilac, "Longbottom's not too bad."

Alice whacked them on the shoulder with her open textbook, "Avery, why do you say these things? Yuck, I think I'm traumatised for life."

"Then my work here is done," Avery grinned, closing their eyes once more.

"Honestly, I don't even know why I'm here." Alice glared at Avery, who paid her no mind at all as they snoozed contentedly, "I could go hang out with my own friends, they don't try to talk about my father like that."

"Yeah, you could," Scorpius pondered, smiling at the Fifth Year who had been friends with Rose before coming to Hogwarts, and who had stuck awkwardly by her during her first few weeks until she had become just another member of the group, "but you'd miss us too much."

At that moment, Radin returned, pumpkin pasty in hand. Alice clapped her hands together in delight and snatched it from him without so much as a thank you. Radin didn't seem to mind, and gazed fondly at her as she munched happily.

"You'll never guess who I bumped into at the trolley," Radin said conspiratorially as he sat down next to Alice.

"Hmm..." Delilah tapped her chin thoughtfully, "Mountain troll?"

Radin laughed dryly, "Worse. Albus Potter."

The entire compartment groaned as one, even Avery. As the Gryffindor Quidditch captain, Radin had more reason than most to hate his Slytherin counterpart, and while he and Delilah had their moments, often at the height of Quidditch season, it was nothing compared to the rivalry between Radin and Albus.

"I still can't believe they made him the captain," Rose scoffed, "he kept bragging about it to me over Christmas, telling me he couldn't wait to wipe the 'smug grins' off your faces."

"He's one to talk," Delilah said, raising an eyebrow. Rose nodded knowingly in her direction.

"Surely he's not that bad..." Alice said between bites of pumpkin pasty, her words slightly muffled. Radin looked ready to take it back from her himself, but he settled for simply glaring at his girlfriend instead.

"Oh, you poor, sweet, innocent thing," Delilah said woefully, patting her on the head, "you have so much still to learn about this world, namely the irrefutable fact that Albus Potter is the biggest git in the entire universe."

"But his sister is so lovely," She frowned, "I don't know a single person who doesn't adore Lily."

"She is what the universe created to counteract her older brother," Avery said sagely, eyes still tightly shut, "to restore order and balance and all that."

Scorpius caught Rose trying to catch his eye at the mention of her cousin, but he resolutely stared out of the window at the swiftly passing countryside, wishing the mention of Albus Potter didn't make something clench uncomfortably in his stomach now; a reminder of what might have to be, and the things he would have to overcome to get there.

Rose sighed audibly, "Let's not waste another breath talking about my cousin, please. I'd far rather hear about your Christmases, and please tell me at least one of you has done that Transfiguration work for Professor Holland."

Thankfully, the conversation moved on as Rose directed it, but Scorpius simply couldn't get the thought of Albus Potter out of his mind. He couldn't help but wonder just why Harry Potter's youngest son was the way he was, why he seemed to hate everything and everyone around him. There had to be a reason for it, and Scorpius wanted to know what it was. No one was that much of a git just for the sake of it, and Scorpius knew he would have to be the one to figure Albus Potter out, if only to satisfy his own curiosity.

By the time the train pulled into Hogwarts, and everyone had changed into their warm winter robes, Scorpius had resolved to do something about it as soon as possible. That very morning in the Daily Prophet, there had been reports of yet another incident of magic being performed, this time directly upon the unsuspecting Muggles, one of whom was still apparently speaking only in limericks. It sounded mostly harmless, but Scorpius was certain there were motives behind it.

Rose finally managed to corner him on the carriage ride up to the castle, bundling him into one of the thestral-led coaches with Radin and Alice, who were too preoccupied with each other to pay them any mind. Scorpius sighed as the carriage set off with a jolt, still unsettled by the way it seemed to drive itself.

"So," She began quietly once she had settled into her seat, watching him with eager dark blue eyes, "are you going to try and talk to Albus?"

"I don't particularly want to," Scorpius said honestly, "but if it all turns out to be true, then I guess I'll have to."

"If I were you," Rose replied, "I'd try to make an effort sooner, rather than later. Albus may think he's this aloof, mysterious guy, but I know him better than he thinks. We did used to be friends, after all, and my cousin hasn't changed quite as much as he likes to think he has. He appreciates honesty in other people, though he's often too stubborn to realise when he's lying to himself."

"He sounds like a very conflicted individual," Scorpius said, frowning, "I mean, things can't have been easy for him, being Harry Potter's son and all that..."

"What a startling show of empathy," Rose nudged him with a grin, "but I think you're right. He's just as flawed as the rest of us kids of those who got caught up in the war and have to live with our parents' legacies. He just refuses to acknowledge that that might be the reason."

"And he's a massive dickhead," Scorpius couldn't help but point out.

Rose sighed, placing her chin on her hands and watching Scorpius with an unreadable expression, "And there's that, too."

Rose sighed, placing her chin on her hands and watching Scorpius with an unreadable expression, "And there's that, too."

"Does he actually have any friends?" Scorpius wondered aloud, feeling the same sense of awe he always felt at seeing the castle again after a time away. Beside him, Radin and Alice sat hand in hand, staring up at it wistfully, "Or does he just have people who follow him blindly about?"

"I think so..." Rose said uncertainly, "I think he's still friends with Juniper Nott, you know, the Slytherin Seeker? They used to go out and she was even at ours last Christmas, which was  _super_  awkward. Mum had to give Dad plenty of mulled wine to get him to calm down, and he got outrageously drunk."

"I think I remember you telling me that," Scorpius laughed. Rather wisely, Rose had never introduced Scorpius to her father, but he had seen him at King's Cross a couple of times, and he always seemed to reserve a glare or two especially for Scorpius. He tried not to let it bother him, and Rose assured him that her father was simply stubborn, but it gave him even less hope for befriending Albus Potter.

"Anyway," Rose said pointedly, "I still see them together sometimes, along with Ava Munroe, the other Beater, but he never talks about her anymore so… Who knows. He never talks about much, so they could still be happily together for all I know."

"What a sorry state of affairs when even Albus Potter has a girlfriend and you're still single," Scorpius said with a huff, crossing his arms indignantly, though it was more to keep the January chill out than anything else. It did still sting just a little, since Scorpius liked to consider himself a decent person and all that, but letting it get to him was letting Albus get to him, and he refused to do that again, especially taking the whole world-changing prophecy thing into consideration.

"Oh, spare me," Rose scoffed, rolling her eyes, "I thought you'd gotten over this whole 'nobody will ever date me and I'll die alone surrounded by nobody but my cats' thing."

"Remind me why we're friends again," Scorpius grumbled, fixing Rose with a glare which he hoped accurately portrayed the amount of loathing he felt for her in that moment. She simply smirked, because she knew that Scorpius could never truly hate her. Rose's friendship was one of the most precious things in his life, and he had never dared to try and ruin that by going and getting a crush on her or anything ridiculous like that. He had never been able to see her in that way, and he was fairly certain that she felt the same way, if her infatuation with Xander, a Seventh Year Ravenclaw as well as Head Boy, was anything to go by.

"I think it's my unfailing kindness, personally," She grinned, "but really, Scor. You're pathetic sometimes."

Scorpius scowled, "I don't suppose you're finally going to make a move on Xander when you're next on prefect duty with him?"

"Ouch. Touché," Rose said, having the decency to look just a little embarrassed. "I guess this is what sharing a carriage with those two lovebirds entails. Our miserable single lives can't possibly begin to compare."

"You're right," Scorpius agreed, "now, I don't suppose Xander will be wearing his glasses at dinner again, you know, those ones with the light frames that you simply  _adore_?"

Rose shoved him, and probably rightly so, which dissolved quickly into a tickling match that even Radin and Alice couldn't fail to ignore. Soon enough, they were up at the castle, and trudging through the snow to get to the Great Hall. It looked just a little empty, the walls having previously been festooned with Christmas decorations, but despite that, it was still a wonder to behold, and Scorpius took his usual seat at the end of the Ravenclaw table with a sigh, content to be back in the place where he truly felt he was at home.

Once everybody had filed in, and Professor McGonagall had given her usual, long-winded start of term speech, dinner was served, and Scorpius tucked in eagerly, letting the conversations of his housemates wash over him. Throughout the meal, Scorpius found himself glancing surreptitiously across the room towards the Slytherin table in the hopes of catching Albus Potter's eye, and cursed himself internally each time he caught sight of the Slytherin, looking utterly bored.

At one point, Scorpius locked eyes with Albus, and couldn't help but grimace as the other boy simply gave him the middle finger, only to then be lost in amongst the crowd. Scorpius sighed and felt something twist uncomfortably in his stomach. He couldn't help but feel that nothing he tried to do would ever be enough. Albus clearly wanted nothing to do with him, as he had for the past six years, and Scorpius had no idea how to go about changing that.

Rose nudged him then and brought him crashing back to reality, "Cheer up, grumpy."

Scorpius speared a piece of pasta with his fork and pushed it aimlessly about the plate, hardly daring to look up in case Albus noticed him watching again, "I've never been happier."

"Look, Scor, this thing with Albus..." Rose began, smiling sympathetically all the while, "you don't have to worry about it now. I mean, we're Sixth Years. I'm sure there's probably some piece of work you've forgotten to do. I found my Arithmancy book in the bottom of my trunk the other day, unopened!"

"That is  _most_  unlike you," Scorpius said, raising an eyebrow. Resignedly, he put his fork down, not feeling particularly hungry, "and you're right. Why should I care about one potentially not even real thing when I could focus on the million and one very real and important things I still have to do… Oh Merlin… As if OWLs weren't bad enough."

Rose patted him gently on the shoulder, "There, there. We're Ravenclaws, we're going to pull through this. With lots of complaining and probably alcohol when exams are over, if we can sneak enough from the kitchens, but remember how lost Delilah and Avery were without our revision timetables? We've got this."

"Yeah..." Scorpius said uncertainly, now worrying about exams as well as the prophecy that had the potential to completely change his life as he knew it. He knew Rose was right, however; she usually was, and it was both endearing and frustrating in equal measure.

"Look, Scor… Why don't I try talking to Albus?" Rose asked, as across the Great Hall, her cousin excused himself from the Slytherin table, his posse in tow, "I mean, maybe not right now, but we have Potions together tomorrow, don't we? I can try and accost him, if you like."

Scorpius nodded, eternally grateful for his best friend, "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

"Don't thank me now," Rose grinned suddenly, "thank me when I finally make my stubborn git of a cousin see sense. He thinks he's so troubled and conflicted just because he's the son of Harry Potter – well, he's not the only one whose parents were in the war, and we turned out alright, didn't we?"

"Sure did," Scorpius said, too afraid to disagree. At that moment Rose was utterly distracted by the approach of Xander Newman, and Scorpius resisted the urge to laugh at the way Rose stared wistfully up at him.

"Hey, Granger, we're on prefect duty tonight, right?" He beamed as he leaned easily against the table, pushing his glasses up his nose in a way that Scorpius knew would be making butterflies dance around Rose's stomach.

"You know we are!" Rose admonished him, smacking the Head Boy playfully on the arm in an almost flirtatious way. Scorpius was beginning to feel just a little awkward sitting there, and began to get up to leave.

"I know, I know," He shrugged easily, "I just wanted to check. See you in a bit, then."

"Bye," Rose said, sighing deeply as he turned and left without a backwards glance. Then she spotted Scorpius, still half-standing there, and came back to herself, looking rather abashed, "Are we heading up?"

Scorpius nodded, and helped to pull Rose to her feet, "You don't reckon he's started working out, do you?"

Rose glanced towards Xander's retreating figure and raised an appraising eyebrow, "Trust you to notice that."

"Shut up!" Scorpius said, and he couldn't help but blush. That was perhaps the main reason Scorpius had never considered Rose in anything but a platonic way, and Rose, in all of her perceptiveness, had accepted that part of Scorpius long before he had even really begun to acknowledge it. He might still struggle to talk about it, and had yet to tell the rest of his friends, but Rose had no such qualms.

"It's just one more thing we have in common," Rose said, hooking her arm through Scorpius' as they headed out of the Great Hall, "now, tell me all about the books you got for Christmas, I bet there's at least a few I'll want to borrow."

Scorpius followed eagerly, the million and one important things forgotten for the time being as he and Rose began discussing books at length, as they so very often did.

* * *

The next morning, lessons resumed as usual, and after a hideously dull double period of History of Magic with Professor Binns, Scorpius and Rose headed down to the dungeons for Potions with Professor Zabini. Rose was still buzzing with excitement after prefect duty with Xander, and Scorpius was fairly sure his eyes would fall straight out of his head if he rolled them one more time.

"Oh, but the way he said goodnight!" Rose said dramatically, clutching her hand to her chest and practically swooning, as Scorpius dodged to avoid her, "I'm just so relieved he seems to have noticed me at last."

"Me too," Scorpius replied dryly as they arrived at the classroom. They were among the first ones there, and Scorpius waved at Radin and Delilah, who were no doubt engaged in yet another argument about Quidditch.

"Come on, Scor, at least try and pretend to be happy for me," Rose whined, pouting.

"You know I am happy for you, Rose," Scorpius said, fishing around in his satchel for his Potions textbook, "but after History of Magic I just don't have much enthusiasm for anything. Ooh, perhaps we'll be looking at those super powerful pepper-up potions, though I doubt even they'd be strong enough to get me through a double period, first thing in the morning. Honestly, what sort of sadistic devil created our timetables?"

Rose nodded along in sympathy, "It could always be worse. Avery and Delilah have double Divination last thing on a Friday. If it weren't for Firenze they would probably have dropped it long ago."

Scorpius winced at the thought and was about to respond when the door to the classroom was flung wide open. Rose and Scorpius shuffled quickly inside and took their usual places beside each other at the front in complete silence, all too aware of Professor Zabini's proclivity for lecturing misbehaving students.

Slamming his heavy textbook on the table with a loud thump, Scorpius pulled his essay out from the page where he had been working on it and handed it to Professor Zabini, who stood nearby with his arm outstretched. Despite being Head of Slytherin, and rather strict, he had a rare soft spot for Scorpius and Rose, even allowing them to sit together whereas the rest of the class was in a seating plan.

"Only four inches over, Mr. Malfoy?" He asked, raising a neatly shaped eyebrow as he took Rose's essay from her, "That's more like it, Miss Granger-Weasley. I daresay you'll both find today's lesson all too simple."

"Professor Zabini, your lessons are never simple," Rose said indulgently, and Zabini gave her a small smile, barely more than a quirk of the lips, before moving on to collect essays from the rest of the class.

"Teacher's pet," Scorpius whispered, nudging Rose, who didn't seem the slightest bit bothered as she opened her own textbook and pored over the list of ingredients for the day's potion, a Draught of the Living Dead.

In short order, Professor Zabini began lecturing the class on the properties of the Draught, glancing over the history as it was the topic of the essay. Scorpius scribbled it all down eagerly on a loose piece of parchment, ready to copy it up later for revision purposes.

"Mr. Potter, how nice of you to join us," Zabini said in a slow drawl as the door creaked shut. Scorpius could practically feel the anger simmering in his teacher's voice as he, along with the rest of the class, turned to face Albus Potter, who had the good sense to look suitably abashed at being late.

"I'm sorry, Professor," He said, "I guess I must have overslept."

Zabini glanced at the watch on his wrist, clearly unimpressed, "You guess? Very well. And I don't suppose you've done the essay that was due in today?"

"Oh, shit!" Albus cursed, scratching his forehead and blushing slightly, which to Scorpius looked totally out of place on his face, "Uh – sorry, Professor. I'll get it to you tomorrow, I promise."

"Please ensure that you do," Zabini's lips were pursed and his face was like thunder as he gestured to a seat, which Albus promptly took, "and I'll see you in detention this lunchtime."

"Yes, Professor," Albus said, staring intently down at his desk. The excitement over, most of the class turned back 'round to the front as Zabini resumed his lesson exactly where he had left off.

"Aunt Ginny is definitely getting a letter about this," Rose muttered to Scorpius as she got to her feet, practically slamming her cauldron onto the table as she pulled it from her oversized bag, "and if Albus gets a Howler, then that's his own damn fault for being such a lazy git."

"You'll still talk to him, though?" Scorpius said, gesturing to the back of the classroom where Albus and a few other students were gathering up ingredients. When Rose scowled, he blinked up at her, eyes wide and imploring.

"Fine. But you owe me one," Rose turned and flounced away. Scorpius resisted the urge to watch them, focusing solely on setting up the cauldrons and trying to look like he wasn't attempting to eavesdrop. Unfortunately, the volume in the classroom had risen considerably since Zabini had stopped his lecturing, and Scorpius soon gave it up.

Scorpius felt the presence of somebody at his side, and, expecting it to be Rose, he said, "So? What did he have to say?"

It wasn't Rose.

Albus Potter himself was stood there, glowering up at him. Scorpius felt heat rise on his cheeks and desperately tried to scramble for an explanation that didn't sound too far-fetched.

"I thought it might be you who put my cousin up to that," Albus said plainly. Scorpius glanced back to where Rose at the back of the room, looking thoroughly apologetic.

Scorpius sighed, completely not in the mood for this right now, as he turned to face Albus Potter, whose expression hadn't softened in the slightest, "What about it?"

"Look, even if this whole prophecy shit turns out to be true, which it won't, I don't get what it has to do with me," Albus looked Scorpius directly in the eye, and he felt trapped, smothered by his all-consuming presence and constant scowl, "but if you want to talk to me, don't be such a coward and just do it yourself."

"Maybe I didn't expect you to listen," Scorpius shrugged nonchalantly.

"Fair point." Albus allowed. Scorpius thought that he had almost been about to smile, but of course that was impossible. He blinked and the omnipresent frown was back on Albus' face where it seemed to belong, "Perhaps I still won't."

"Then why are you here?" Scorpius asked, beginning to feel more than slightly irritated.

"Just to tell you to leave me alone," Albus said, already stepping away, "and tell Rose to leave me alone too, for that matter."

"What the hell is your problem?" Scorpius knew it was the wrong thing to say but he couldn't stop his anger from spilling over into his words. Albus just shook his head and walked away, shoving past Rose who looked almost as disgruntled as Scorpius, her arms laden with ingredients for the potion.

"I am so sorry," She apologised profusely as she returned to their desk, letting the ingredients spill out onto the table, "I know it's wrong to hate somebody but he just makes it so damn hard not to!"

"Forget about him," Scorpius said determinedly as he began to chop one of the many elements, "I refuse to let his stubborness spoil our perfect grades for practicals."

"You're right!" Rose declared, brandishing her knife with just a little too much vigour, "However, perhaps channelling our anger into our Draught of the Living Dead will make it perfect."

Scorpius agreed, letting his thoughts circle and his mind wander as he chopped, stirred, and triple checked everything. It wasn't fair. It simply wasn't fair that Albus could simply ignore the weight of the prophecy on his shoulder, the fate of the whole world, both mundane and magical. It seemed to Scorpius as if it was all just far too easy for Albus. He didn't appear to have a care in the world, even letting the weight of being the son of Harry Potter brush past him.

He tried to imagine letting everything brush past him as Albus did, and the very thought horrified him. Albus didn't care about grades, didn't care about popularity, and yet he seemed to have it all. When they had first started at Hogwarts, Albus had immediately befriended most of Slytherin house, whereas for a while it had been Scorpius and Rose against the world, which for Rose must have been impossibly hard, as Albus had wanted no more part in it.

His anger at Albus Potter seared through him like ice, leaving him cold. How dare he presume he could just leave it all to somebody else? Was it not enough to have everything? Scorpius tried to breathe deeply as he stirred his potion slowly as the recipe instructed, wincing at the colour, which had a distinct wrongness to it.

In the end, channelling all of his anger into his potion making turned out to be completely the wrong thing to do. Zabini had deemed it merely satisfactory, and Scorpius knew his father, with his Potions workshop and his close friendship with the Potions professor, would no doubt hear about this failure and be disappointed.

How dare Albus Potter ruin yet another thing, Scorpius thought bitterly as he and Rose left the classroom in a sombre fashion, leaving Albus to his lunchtime detention. He knew his bitter mood would not soon be forgotten, even as Avery made him grin by turning their features into a gross caricature of Professor Diggle, Head of Ravenclaw and Defence against the Dark Arts Professor, just as she was strolling down the very same corridor.

However, with the disastrous result in Potions, Scorpius couldn't help but feel that perhaps anger wasn't the right emotion in all of this. If they were to work together, something would have to give, and that wouldn't happen until Scorpius let go of all of his negative feelings towards him, and that Albus would eventually have to do the same. Remembering the scowl on the other boy's face, however, Scorpius was certain that this would be no easy task.


	4. Empty Threat

"Draw a line in the sand, like there's nothing to regret and nothing to prove"

"Good morning," Scorpius beamed as he took a seat opposite Albus Potter. They were in one of the many interhouse study spaces that had popped up throughout Hogwarts during McGonagall's time as Headmistress. Despite being popular and widely used, students still tended to stick with friends from their own House, and Albus was usually no different. This time, however, he was alone, and Scorpius was willing to use any opportunity he could get to talk to the Slytherin.

Albus, as usual, ignored him, humming to himself as he flicked through the pages of his Potions textbook. Scorpius couldn't help but note that Albus was hurriedly scribbling down notes about the assignment that had been due in the previous day. He almost felt a twinge of sympathy for the other boy, but it was soon drowned out by the thought that he should really have tried to do it in time, especially with Rose Granger-Weasley as a cousin.

"Need any help with that?" Scorpius asked, lowering his voice. Albus glanced up, and briefly he looked bewildered. His hair was an untameable mass, and his eyes had dark shadows underneath them, as if he had barely slept the night before. Perhaps he had been up working on his assignment, which Scorpius felt served him right.

"You could help me immensely by fucking off," Albus said, raking his fingers through his hair. His features had returned to their usual hard scowl, and Scorpius knew there would be no getting through to him. He had resolved to try, however – and try he would.

"Look, Potter," Scorpius said resolutely as Albus sighed and returned to his work, "I don't expect us to become the best of friends overnight, but what have we got to lose? I mean, I don't want to damage your heard-earned reputation or anything, but if the Prophecy turns out to be true -"

"Don't even say that!" Albus hissed under his breath, "Don't even suggest that. Just leave it alone, would you?"

"I'm just saying, there's no harm done if -" Scorpius trailed off as Albus hurriedly gathered his things and shoved them all into his bag before getting to his feet and walking away without a glance back. He frowned; he had wasted his free period for  _this_?

"We're expecting a good game this weekend, Potter!" A Seventh Year Slytherin passing by with a group of his friends clapped Albus on the back.

"And I'm expecting to win," Albus said with an easy grin, all traces of the tired and overworked boy gone from his demeanour. This was Albus Potter as most of Slytherin House probably knew him: the self-assured Quidditch Captain. Most of the rest of the school knew him only as a jerk and an outcast, but clearly that was not the case among his fellow Slytherins.

Scorpius watched Albus until he disappeared from view, wondering if he would ever get that essay finished, then figured he might as well get some work of his own done before his next period, Herbology with Professor Longbottom. With NEWTs swiftly approaching, Scorpius could hardly bear to let a minute go to waste.

"Was that a certain brother of mine you were just talking to?" Lily Potter slid into the recently vacated seat without introduction, as was usual for the Fourth Year Hufflepuff who was, rather inexplicably, one of Scorpius' good friends.

Scorpius rolled his eyes, closing his textbook and knowing that with Lily around, he wasn't going to get any more work done, "What's it to you?"

"I'm just intrigued," Lily said, tapping her chin thoughtfully with one finger, "as rumour has it you were talking to Albus only yesterday."

"What did Rose tell you?" Scorpius demanded, already beginning to feel irritation well up in him.

"It was Delilah, actually," Lily stuck her tongue out at him, "at Quidditch practice last night. She was just as intrigued as me."

"There's not much to tell, really," Scorpius replied, "I just… wondered if he wanted any help with our Potions assignment. He was late to class yesterday, and he hadn't done the essay on time… Rose said she was going to send an owl to your mum about it."

"Oh, she'll love that!" Lily let out a giggle, "I wouldn't be surprised if Albus gets a Howler in the next few days… He's been even grumpier than usual lately, it might help him get his act together again. I can't help but wonder, though, if that has anything to do with a certain Prophecy..."

"You said Rose didn't tell you anything!" Scorpius let out a groan.

"I said Rose didn't tell me about you talking to Albus yesterday," Lily said in a matter of fact way, "she did, however, feel that she had a duty to tell me about the Prophecy. Don't worry, Scorpius, I'm not going to go blabbing about it! It's just – I am his sister, after all, and much as I am loathe to admit it, I do care deeply about my git of a brother."

"Well, that makes one of us," Scorpius huffed, crossing his arms across his chest and trying not to look like the grumpiest person in Hogwarts, even if he did feel like it.

"Yeah, he doesn't exactly endear himself to others," Lily admitted with a rueful grin, "but tell me – what are you going to do? About the whole Prophecy thing?"

"I haven't got a bloody clue," Scorpius said, "I thought by now things would have at least started to become clearer… But I feel just as lost as I did when my parents first told me and Albus about the Prophecy that's supposedly going to change everything. If not more lost, since it's obvious he wants nothing to do with me."

"If you like, I could always give him a good kick up the backside – ooh! Or a bat-bogey hex. I've been dying to try that out on somebody." Lily looked positively thrilled at the idea of turning her brother's snot into tiny little bats, and it reminded Scorpius greatly of Rose.

"Hang on a minute, aren't you a Fourth Year?" Scorpius raised an eyebrow at Lily, who grinned sheepishly, "You guys don't get free periods."

"If you must know, I am technically supposed to be in History of Magic… But I couldn't possibly get over to the other side of the castle in time with my grievous Quidditch injury," Lily daintily heaved her foot up onto the table, her ankle wrapped up in a small bandage, "I was on my way to Madame Pomfrey, but seeing you here was too great an opportunity to pass up."

Scorpius almost shoved her out of her seat, but settled for rolling his eyes, "Leave me alone, then! Some of us are actually trying to pass our exams."

Lily stood up, wobbling slightly, and leaned over to flick Scorpius lightly on the nose, "Fine. I know where I'm not wanted. I will be back to bother you again about this soon, I guarantee it."

"I can't wait," Scorpius muttered dryly, as Lily flounced away, limping slightly as she went. Scorpius almost couldn't believe that Lily was the sister of Albus Potter. She had her moments, as she had just displayed, but for the most part she seemed the polar opposite of her older sibling. Soon after, he packed up his things and headed down to the greenhouses, his mind preoccupied with thoughts of Albus Potter and the impossibility of getting through to him.

* * *

That Saturday morning found Scorpius at the Gryffindor table, sleepily watching Radin try to make a tower from toast soldiers in order to keep his mind distracted from his upcoming Quidditch game against Slytherin. He had been talking about it for a while, but Scorpius had been paying more attention to the quickly growing tower and occasional nabbing pieces of toast from it.

"Scorpius, stop that!" Radin complained, smacking Scorpius' hand away, "I need all the distraction I can get right now."

"You could do some of your work," Scorpius suggested. The reason for his sleepiness was that he and Rose had stayed up late getting ahead on their weekend homework – which none of their other friends ever seemed to think to do.

"Ugh. Typical Ravenclaw." Radin looked aghast at the idea as Alice came and sat by his side, grabbing several pieces of toast from the tower at once and shoving them into her mouth, "Not you as well!"

"Don't play with your food," Alice chastised as she further dismantled the tower, "especially not when I'm around."

"I hate you." Radin grumbled as he kissed his girlfriend on the cheek. Scorpius smiled up at them, eyes half closed. Their public displays of affection were rare, but they were very sweet.

"Look at this!" Scorpius was jolted awake by Rose throwing a copy of the Daily Prophet down in front of him. The black and white photograph that took over the front page showed the wall outside 10 Downing Street – even Scorpius, brought up a Wizard, knew where that was and its importance – graffitied with ' **Magic is real** '. As he watched, the large letters flashed and sparkled, something that Muggle graffiti certainly didn't do.

"Oh, Merlin." He breathed.

Rose nodded gravely, "According to the article, the Aurors were able to get there before the Muggle media and Obliviated as many people as they could – including some very important politicians! But how could they have let this happen in the first place?"

Scorpius sighed, unable to hide his fatigue at all of this, "I never thought they'd go so far… At least, not now, not so soon. What are they trying to achieve?"

"I've talked to Mum about it," Rose said seriously, "she thinks they want to make the Muggles aware of our world. Of course, she thinks it'll take a whole lot more for the Statute of Secrecy begins to break down, or anything like that – most Muggles would prefer to stay oblivious, as I'm sure she well knows. So I don't think we have too much to worry about. Not yet, anyway."

"Well, that's a relief." Scorpius frowned, "Do you think Albus has heard?"

Rose glanced over to the Slytherin table, where their Quidditch team sat surrounded by admirers. Albus sat in the middle of it all, looking supremely bored, "I think he has other things on his mind."

"Like destroying my life." Radin suggested with a grimace.

"Oh, get over it," Delilah appeared, nudging him, "at least it won't be as bad as losing to Hufflepuff!"

"I'm not very familiar with that concept." Radin grinned, dodging as Delilah reached out to shove him, "Now, if you all don't mind, I have a team to try and captain. I'll see you losers after the game."

"He gets almost as bad as Albus Potter when he's like this!" Delilah said with a huff, taking his recently vacated seat. Radin, followed by the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, most of whom were already decked out in their gear, left the room.

"Radin's not  _that_  bad, surely," Alice complained, standing up for her boyfriend when no one else would. Delilah and Rose exchanged disbelieving glances.

"Come on," Rose said, holding her hand out to Scorpius. "I want to get a good view of the game."

Scorpius accepted the proffered hand, grumbling, "Quidditch isn't the only thing you want a good view of."

Rose glared at the insinuation as they headed out of the Hall amongst other eager students, "I'm serious."

"And if we just happen to end up sitting near Xander..." Scorpius grinned at the blush on Rose's cheeks, which she tried to hide, unsuccessfully, with a handful of curly hair. As they reached the main doors of the castle, Scorpius began to shiver, already wishing he had thought to wear a few more layers. Winter still held Hogwarts in its icy grip, and showed no signs of letting up.

"Oh, come here, you idiot," Rose said as they stepped into the frigid January air, pulling her wand from her pocket and casting a gentle warming spell over him before doing the same to herself. Scorpius grinned his thanks; Rose was ever the friend who looked after them all, making sure everyone was holding up alright, mothering them when they were away from their own parents.

"Whatever would I do without you?" Scorpius asked wistfully as he and Rose headed, arm in arm, to the Quidditch pitch.

"I dread to even think," Rose replied honestly, squeezing Scorpius' arm. Despite the much appreciated warming spell, the walk to the Quidditch pitch was deeply unpleasant. Rose and Scorpius were buffeted by the fierce winds, and Scorpius couldn't help but envy those few students who decided to stay inside the castle, but he had promised his friends long ago that he would support them. It became a little tricky when his friends were playing against each other, but Scorpius had always professed to caring little about the outcome.

Despite the abject weather and their early arrival, the stands were already beginning to fill up with eager students, and Scorpius wasn't the least bit surprised when Rose spotted Xander with a group of his Seventh Year friends and sidled up to sit beside him.

Scorpius was perfectly content to ignore his best friend as she flirted less than subtly. Xander briefly acknowledged Scorpius with a wave, and then turned to face Rose, listening intently to her Quidditch match predictions. He took a deep breath, settling into the uncomfortable seat as much as he could. The weather wasn't too awful, really, and the snow made the hills and mountains around Hogwarts look magnificent.

Rose and Scorpius had both tried to make it onto the Ravenclaw Quidditch team; Scorpius only because he was being coerced. He had tried out for a place as one of the three Chasers, and had been rather relieved to have been one of the first to fail. Try as he might, he had never felt at all safe and secure on a broomstick, and that had never been more apparent than when he and twenty other Ravenclaw hopefuls had been racing each other around the pitch.

Rose, on the other had, had been much more successful. While not officially on the team, the Captain promised that if they ever found themselves short a player, she was welcome to fill in. She was perfectly content with that – she had little time to spare as it was, what with Prefect duties and a rigorous study regime, and Scorpius dreaded to think how unbearable she might become around exam season if she had Quidditch to worry about as well.

Distracted as he was, Scorpius barely noticed as the two teams trudged onto the pitch, led by referee and Flying teacher Wood. The sound of the whistle jolted him back to reality, as both teams mounted their broomsticks and prepared to lift off. Scorpius could see Radin glaring at Albus Potter even from the stands, and hoped that both team captains would be able to keep their cool.

Wood blew the whistle once more as he released the Snitch, and both teams were off. Scorpius found himself watching Albus Potter, as he hefted his bat and nodded at his fellow Slytherin Beater, Ava Munroe, who had the Bludger ready in her hand.

"And they're off! Munroe of Slytherin has the Bludger, and she aims it at Shahidan, the new Quidditch captain who so far this season has seen his team to victory – but could his time be up at the hands of Potter and his well-oiled team of players?" The commentary began, led by Scorpius' dorm mate William Wigglesworth, known throughout the school simply as Wiggles. He was hilarious, outspoken, and the perfect commentator, even if he did have the annoying habit of leaving his socks strewn everywhere.

The game was soon well underway, and Scorpius found himself totally absorbed in the game. Radin was a formidable Chaser, but it soon became clear that the Slytherin team were not to be reckoned with. Scorpius found himself watching Albus Potter, fascinated; here was none of the grumpy jackass Slytherin that Scorpius was used to. Here, flying above the Quidditch pitch, bat in hand, Albus Potter looked like he belonged.

Even from the distance in the stands, Scorpius could almost see the fire in his eyes as he swung the bat, sending the Bludger toward the Gryffindor team and preventing them from scoring a goal. Why couldn't he be like this off the pitch? Why couldn't he act like he cared about things that were actually important – like the Prophecy?

Scorpius almost found himself clapping for the enemy team as Juniper Nott caught the Snitch, cinching the win as Slytherin won by a whole two hundred points. The grin on Albus' face as he hugged his teammate in midair was infectious, but he soon remembered Radin and how disconsolate he would be feeling. Gryffindor weren't out of the running yet – it was only January, after all – but his friend always took losing hard, and would no doubt need cheering up at the inevitable afterparty later that evening.

"What a game!" Rose enthused from beside Scorpius, nudging him with her elbow. On her other side, Xander and his friends were discussing the game and laughing at some of Wiggles' more daring comments throughout the game.

"It really was," Scorpius agreed, trying to sound as enthusiastic as Rose. "Radin will be pretty peeved off, though. He was desperate to win against Slytherin."

"Yeah, we'd best go see if he's alright," Rose said, getting to her feet and stretching her back. "Oh, by the way, I told Xander we'd be at the party tonight. You're cool with that, right?"

"I don't know..." Scorpius admitted, biting his lip, as they began to head back to the warmth and comfort of the castle. "I still have some work to catch up on, and I promised Delilah I'd help her with that Transfiguration work, and I'm not even sure I understand it myself yet, so I should probably –"

"Scorpius, please," Rose begged, clasping his arm and looking up at him with wide sapphire eyes. "I promised Xander I'd be there, and I really don't want to go alone. Please, Scor, it'll do you a world of good, too. I know I'm hardly one to talk but you never know, you might enjoy it. And there'll be plenty of cute boys there, too..."

"Alright, alright!" Scorpius relented, glancing about nervously. Thankfully, between the howling wind and the sleet, nobody was paying them the slightest bit of attention. "And why not go shouting it from the rooftops. Hey, everybody, Scorpius is desperately lonely and pathetic and too far in the closet to find his own boyfriend!"

"Oh, Scorpius," Rose fixed him with an earnest look. "You know I'd never do anything like that. I just want you to be happy – I know it can't be easy for you, but you know I support you, don't you? I could ask a few extremely subtle questions, see if any of Xander's friends, you know, might be interested.

Scorpius pulled a face, "Please, spare me that. I'll come, but only if you pinky swear to me that you won't spend too much time with Xander and leave me standing about awkwardly at the edge of the room.

Rose held her little finger out, grinning. "Only if you dance with me!"

Scorpius, whose pinky finger was already intwined with Rose's, groaned. "Dammit! Fine. One dance – and I get to pick the song."

"You have a deal, Mr. Malfoy," Rose nodded, satisfied, and began to skip back to the castle. Sighing to himself, Scorpius hurried after her, already trying to reconfigure his Sunday to fit in all the work he would miss by spending his Saturday night at a party. He only hoped there would be something to drink, to help ease his social anxiety.

* * *

Later that day, in the early evening after he had had dinner, Scorpius was lying on his bed, trying to decide what to wear. He had spent most of the afternoon with his friends while they tried to cheer Radin up and let him vent his frustration about the Slytherin team and Albus Potter. Delilah had even managed to reign in her smugness for the sake of her friend.

However, Quidditch felt like a very small problem indeed compared to finding the right shirt for this party. Scorpius wanted to look good, but not like he had put too much thought and effort into his outfit. Who knew getting dressed could be so difficult? It wasn't like he had anybody he wanted to impress, except perhaps Rose. Mostly he would just prefer to blend into the crowd.

He let out a groan of irritation before sitting up, frowning down at the series of shirts laid out across his bed. Luckily he was alone; his dorm mates had never returned after dinner, and were probably hanging out in the common room if they weren't already at the party. It was being held in the Gryffindor common room, as the losing team were usually expected to host. Scorpius was supposed to be meeting Rose downstairs in five minutes, and he was now considering just not going to the party at all. He doubted he would be missed.

There was a knock on the door, and before Scorpius could answer Rose had barrelled into the room and flung herself onto the bed, right on top of his neatly organised shirts. Scorpius pushed her right off the bed, ignoring her protests. He couldn't help but notice the new dress and makeup she was wearing, and grinned despite himself.

"Scorpius! I just did my hair!" She complained as she pulled herself to her feet, smoothing down a few of her more errant curls.

"And you just rumpled all the shirts I so meticulously removed all the creases from!" Scorpius retorted, sticking his tongue out.

Rose spent a few seconds appraising the shirts, mumbling about his surprisingly good taste, before holding out a well worn blue shirt. "It's one of your favourites, it makes you look decent, and you're repping your house. Go put your black skinny jeans and nice shoes on, and let's get out of here!"

She pushed the shirt into his hands before pushing him off the bed, which he probably deserved. Scorpius rolled his eyes and headed to the bathroom to get changed as Rose stood by the door, tapping her foot impatiently.

"I'm sure Xander will still be there," Scorpius said with a smile when he had changed. Rose was pacing about the room at this point, and she paused only to scowl at him.

"He better be," Rose said. "Now, come here."

Scorpius stopped obligingly in front of Rose as she ran her hands through his hair, ruining all the time he had spent neatly gelling it back. He swatted her away, and yanked open the door, leading Rose down the stairs before she could mess it up any further.

"I've told you a million times, Scorpius, that the gelled back look is  _so_  outdated," Rose blabbered on as they walked through the suspiciously empty common room and out into the corridor. "But do you ever take my advice on anything? No, of course you don't."

"Honestly, Rose, I'm afraid not to," Scorpius said as they followed behind a raucous group of Seventh Years who were clearly also heading to the party.

Rose went quiet for a few moments, a slight frown on her face. "Do you think he really likes me?"

"You and I both know he would be a fool not to," Scorpius said, putting one arm around her. She leaned into him with a sigh. "But honestly? I think tonight should be the night you make your move."

She jumped away from him as if burned, looking thoroughly scandalised. "I could never! You've seen what I'm like around him, I can barely get a word out without my tongue tripping over itself. I'll just make a fool of myself."

Scorpius shrugged. He was certain that wouldn't be the case, and he had a suspicion that Xander was really rather taken by his best friend, but he knew Rose wouldn't believe him if he told her so. He settled for giving her a hug before they began to ascend the stairs leading up to Gryffindor tower, and she seemed to gather strength from it.

As they had approached the tower, the number of students around them only increased, and Scorpius and Rose had to practically shove their way through the crowd simply in order to reach the well-known portrait of the Fat Lady. At that moment, she was being distracted by a group of Fourth Year Gryffindors who were pretending to be fascinated by her awful opera singing.

Having spent a fair bit of time here, Scorpius thought he would know what to expect, but the room was completely unrecognisable. All furniture had been pushed to the edge of the room, and music was blasting out of several pairs of enchanted speakers. He recognised students from all four houses here, and grinned at the sight of Delilah and Lily Potter by the drinks table.

Rose had already spotted Xander, and the pair agreed to meet up in a little while for their promised dance. Despite Rose's dark skin, she had bright spots on both cheeks and Scorpius truly hoped that everything worked out for her. He sidled up to the table, scooping up a cup of punch from a large bowl.

"Bold choice," Lily commented with a lopsided grin, holding up her own cup.

"Aren't you a little young to be drinking?" Scorpius asked, taking a long sip of his own drink and pleasantly surprised at the decent flavour. Even the bitter taste of the alcohol in it wasn't enough to spoil his enjoyment. It was far nicer than firewhisky, besides.

"Excuse me!" She said sharply and just a little drunkenly as she poured herself another cup, "I am fifteen years old, mister. I can handle my liquor!"

"Sure you can," Delilah laughed, gently prying the cup from Lily's fingers and downing the contents for herself. "I'm surprised to see you here, Scor. I didn't take you for the partying type."

"He's a Ravenclaw." Lily said sagely, as if that explained everything. "They might strike you as the shy and retiring type, but when the alcohol starts flowing, they go  _wild_. Very good kissers, too."

Scorpius and Delilah shared a brief, horrified glance, then burst out giggling as Lily burped loudly and exclaimed that she was going to go and find some people who appreciated her clearly superior intellect. He felt the alcohol begin to warm him, and managed to relax just a little. This wasn't too bad.

The pair chatted for a little while, mostly about the Quidditch game and how neither of them had started drinking until their Fifth Year, though they both had to admit that drunk Lily Potter was a pretty hilarious sight. When Scorpius brought up the subject of exams, as he tended to do, Delilah groaned.

"Dude, seriously? We're at a party!" Delilah stared at him disbelievingly. "We should be dancing!"

"Uh… You should be, perhaps." Scorpius said uncertainly. Dancing with Rose was one thing – neither of them were likely to take it seriously. It wasn't like he could actually dance.

Delilah smiled at him understandingly. "Alright, well, I see Avery over there on the dance floor. Feel free to join us. Or not."

"I think I'll just stay here, by the drinks," Scorpius said with a shrug, taking a sip of punch.

"Probably a wise choice, to be honest," Delilah replied with a wry grin, patting her friend on the shoulder before turning to join Avery on the dance floor. Scorpius watched the two Hufflepuffs dance for a little while, admiring the way they seemed able to dance both gracefully and seemingly without a care in the world. He was admittedly a little jealous, and standing here awkwardly by the drinks he felt a little lonely.

Scorpius turned around to pour himself another cup, and was both shocked and a little unnerved to find Albus Potter at his side. Not knowing what to say, he opted for silence, hoping that Albus might just be coming to fetch himself a drink and would leave him alone soon enough.

"Punch, really?" Albus asked as he used the end of his wand to pry open the cap of a bottle of firewhisky. It would have been far easier just to use magic, or even a Muggle bottle opener, but that appeared to be Albus' way. The Slytherin put the bottle to his lips, quite obviously trying not to pull a face at the taste.

"Why are you trying to talk to me?" Scorpius couldn't help but ask. Perhaps it was the influence of the alcohol, ridding him of his inhibitions and letting Albus know how he truly felt about him. He wished that Albus Potter would just leave him alone. It didn't even matter that he hadn't particularly been enjoying himself.

Albus laughed, leaning back against the table, right next to Scorpius. Their hands almost brushed as he asked, "Isn't that what you want?"

"I don't know what I want anymore," Scorpius admitted honestly, crossing his arms over his chest. "I thought maybe we could become friends, but I hadn't expected you to be even more of a jerk than I expected."

"Well, it's good to know I exceed your expectations in that respect," Albus said with an easy grin. He didn't sound at all like the tired, vulnerable Albus Potter who had turned up late to Potions, having forgotten to do his essay. Nor did he sound like the Albus Potter smoking in Scorpius' front garden and telling him to fuck off. It made him wonder – who was Albus Potter, exactly? And why did he feel the need to hide? Was he talking to the real Albus Potter right now? Or was this just another façade?

Scorpius snorted at Albus' words, unable to stop himself. "I just don't get why you feel the need to be like this. I mean, it isn't as if you're not popular. Every Slytherin I've seen basically worships the ground you walk on, but it's like you couldn't give a shit about anybody else. Or anything else."

"Maybe I don't," Albus responded gruffly.

"Everyone cares," Scorpius insisted, absently pulling his wand from his pocket and fiddling nervously with it. "You clearly care about Quidditch. If you didn't there's no way your team would have pulled off such a spectacular win today."

"Cheers, I'll drink to that," Albus smirked as he clinked his bottle against Scorpius' flimsy plastic cup. Scorpius ignored that, taking another drink and trying to enjoy the way it was beginning to make his head spin, just a little.

"Then why don't you care about the Prophecy?" he asked. He hadn't meant to, but the question was out there in the open now, lingering between them. Scorpius was sure that Albus would be content to ignore the Prophecy entirely, but he simply couldn't let it be.

Albus put his empty bottle back onto the table with just a bit too much force, sending the other bottles rattling. "Because it isn't fucking real. You're just reading too much into it."

Scorpius shook his head. "Haven't you seen all of the headlines lately? Something is starting, Albus. I think perhaps you're just afraid of there being any comparisons to your father. I get it, I mean -"

"You don't know anything!" Albus shouted, moving to stand face to face with Scorpius. A few heads turned their way, but his words were mostly lost in the pounding bass. Scorpius felt his cheeks heat up, though whether from the alcohol or Albus' sudden change in tone he wasn't sure.

"Just leave this alone, Scorpius. Please."

"I can't!" Scorpius threw his hands up in exasperation. More people were watching their confrontation now, whispering amongst themselves. "I can't because this is real. Things are happening. If we can do something to help then surely we can't just ignore it."

"For fuck's sake, why can't you get this into your thick head?" Albus prodded him, and Scorpius could do nothing but stare at him with wide, horrified eyes. "Leave it alone."

Albus muttered a few words under his breath, and left, pushing his way through the gathering crowd. Scorpius watched him leave, absently wondering why so many people were looking at him and laughing. Under the influence of the alcohol, everything felt fuzzy, especially his awareness of the world around him.

"Scorpius, oh my god!" Scorpius was startled when Rose grabbed him. "What the bloody hell has Albus done now? I'll hex him into oblivion, heed my words!"

Scorpius blinked sleepily at her. He could have just been imagining it, but the laughter was increasing in volume. Most of the eyes in the room seemed to be on him, and the faces he could discern were either cruel or pitying. He glanced down self-consciously at his feet, and that was when he realised what Albus had done.

His clothes were gone.

Shit.

Shit, shit, shit.

He still had his underwear on, thank Merlin, God, and anyone else who might have been listening, but he was aware of little more than that as he let Rose shield him from the gathering crowd. By some miracle, his wand was in his hand, but his brain was too foggy to remember any spells that might spare him from this absolute humiliation.

How he loathed and despised Albus Potter in that moment. How he wished he had the bravery and courage to fight back, to make Albus look a fool for once in his life. How he wished he wasn't so bloody drunk.

"I hate my life," Scorpius muttered. He felt tears prickling at the corners of his eyes, but he refused to let them spill. He wouldn't give Albus that satisfaction – not now, not ever. He wanted nothing more than to flee, to run back to his dorm and hide under the covers for a couple of weeks until everyone forgot. Between Scorpius and his bed, however, was a large group of drunk teenagers who were having a grand old time laughing at his misery.

Scorpius was vaguely aware of a few more of his friends surrounding him. He was beyond grateful that none of them seemed to find humour in the situation either. Somebody, he wasn't sure who, wrapped a cloak around his shoulders, and suddenly he felt like he could breathe again.

"Come on," Rose whispered to him. "Let's get out of here."

He let Rose pull him through the crowd, the sheer force of her anger and her outsretched wand ensuring that she had a clear path through the Gryffindor common room. Albus had vanished, which was wise of him. Against his cousin, Scorpius was certain that Albus wouldn't stand a chance. Scorpius personally didn't think he deserved one.

When at last they were out in the corridor, away from all those curious eyes, Scorpius collapsed, finally letting his tears get the better of him. The corridor was cold and draughty, and he wrapped the cloak tighter around himself, resolving to give it back to its owner when he discovered who that was.

Rose wrapped him up in a hug for a few moments, allowing him to cry out most of his embarrassment and drunken misery, before she pulled him to his feet.

"I'll kill him," She whispered harshly as they began the long journey back to Ravenclaw tower. "I'll fucking kill him. He had no right – no right! - and I'll make sure he doesn't get away with this. He's going to be in so much trouble from Aunt Ginny and I'm not going to feel the slightest bit sorry for him."

Scorpius could do no more than sigh as he stumbled alongside her, the alcohol still in full effect.

"That was my favourite shirt."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope you enjoyed that! albus is a total jerk but he does get nicer, i promise. and rose and scorpius get their revenge mwahahaha


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